Thoughts on several subjects... and "Electrocuting Cheerio Bowl" is armed...

Waiting for my local card shops to get their shipments of cards in is driving me crazy. I want to open packs of cards... I want to do it now... I do not have the patience for this. Tomorrow I will not be able to go to the store, as there is supposedly 1-3 inches of snow on the ground here in Houston and we all know that snow to Houstonians is like kryptonite to Superman. And I may not be Superman but I am definitely not going to go play in the snow with a 1/2 ton lump of metal and flammable liquid. I'll just stay at home and enjoy the fire and/or rolling blackouts. Gotta love living in a southern city so unaccustomed to dealing with snow. I've been going back and forth on whether to get the hobby jumbo box, or just the regular hobby box. 3 guaranteed hits or 1? $120+ or $70-ish... hmmm... can't decide...

Alright, I want to set a few things straight. I'm a huge Andy Pettitte fan. He was a great pitcher. Yes, he did admit to using HGH. Do I believe he only did it once? Doubtful, but that's not the point. Ever since the word of his impending announcement came out today, the first few articles and radio talking-head conversation was centered around one question: Is he a HOF'er? Here's my one word answer: NO! Alright, let's take Andy and move him from New York to say... Kansas City. Take a look at Bret Saberhagen's career stats. Now, I'm NOT saying they are the same pitcher. But with a hundred more games than Bret, Andy's career stats aren't THAT dissimilar. I'd say Andy has a more historically significant career, especially since he was part of actual championships in New York and became one of the best lefty starters in NY history. But the facts reamin that he was never the most dominant pitcher in the league any year of his career, no Cy Young awards. He rarely led the league in any relevant or significant statistical category. He'd be a great candidate for the "Hall of Greatness" but definitely falls short of the Hall of Fame, in my humble opinion.

Regarding the title... I've read a bunch of blogs the past day or two that are very critical of the 2011 Topps set, both the cards and the collectors who are buying them. Well, STOP PISSING IN MY CHEERIOS! It's ok not to like a release, believe me I've been there, but why SO negative peeps? Is it a perfect set? No. Is the Diamond Giveaway going to end up being a pain in the rear at some point? Probably. Are we going to have to pay a second time for "free" cards? Most likely. But so what? It's a new set! It's the next domino to fall in the grand journey from depths of winter to the start of spring training, and ultimately the season! Just open some packs, put a smile on your face and enjoy the bling-bling diamond foil! 

Alright, I'll wrap this up by letting you all know that I got a LOT of positive feedback regarding the idea of doing a collector's podcast. So, once this 2011 Topps craziness dies down, I'm going to start getting the hardware and software needed to pull this thing together. I would like to know if any of you have ideas for a name for the podcast. At first I thought "The Dimwit and Company" but I figure for iTunes purposes, it may be smart to have the title related to sports cards collecting. Also, I am planning on doing it in segments... the first of which would be a sort of interview with the weeks co-host. The other segments, well I have no clue. I was thinking of doing a "my greatest pull" or "my favorite set" or "how I got into the hobby". Anyways, I guess it can be fluid, but do any of you have ideas about what kind of segments you'd like to hear on a regular basis.

That is all... have a great evening.